Syrians rejoice finish of the Assad household’s half-century rule after president flees nation
Crowds gathered in Damascus on Sunday to rejoice with chants, prayers and the occasional gunfire after the gorgeous advance from opposition forces put an finish to the Assad household’s 50 years of iron rule however raised questions on the way forward for the nation and the broader area.
President Bashar Assad and different officers left Syria, their whereabouts unknown, after resigning and internet hosting negotiations with insurgent teams, Russia’s Overseas Ministry claimed Sunday.
Omar Sanadiki / AP
In a put up on the Telegram messaging app on Sunday, the ministry mentioned Assad left Syria after negotiations with opposition fighters and gave “directions” to “switch energy peacefully.”
“Russia didn’t take part in these negotiations,” the ministry mentioned, including that it has been following the “dramatic occasions” in Syria “with excessive concern.”
The White Home instructed CBS Information it was unaware of Assad’s whereabouts.
It was the primary time opposition forces had reached Damascus since 2018 when Syrian troops recaptured areas on the outskirts of the capital following a yearslong siege.
Hussein Malla / AP
Movies from Damascus confirmed households wandering into the presidential palace, with some rising carrying stacks of plates and different home goods.
“I didn’t sleep final evening, and I refused to sleep till I heard the information of his fall,” mentioned Mohammed Amer Al-Oulabi, 44, who works within the electrical energy sector. “From Idlib to Damascus, it solely took them (the opposition forces) a number of days, thank God. Could God bless them, the heroic lions who made us proud.”
Ghaith Alsayed / AP
The quickly growing occasions have shaken the area. Lebanon mentioned it was closing its land border crossings with Syria apart from one which hyperlinks Beirut with Damascus. Jordan additionally closed a border crossing with Syria.
Abu Mohammed al-Golani, a former al-Qaida commander who reduce ties with the group years in the past and says he embraces pluralism and spiritual tolerance, leads the most important insurgent faction and is poised to chart the nation’s future path.
Hussein Malla / AP
The rebels now face the daunting activity of therapeutic bitter divides in a rustic ravaged by battle and nonetheless break up amongst totally different armed factions. Turkey-backed opposition fighters are battling U.S.-allied Kurdish forces within the north, and the Islamic State group continues to be energetic in some distant areas.
Syrian state tv aired a video assertion early Sunday by a bunch of rebels saying that Assad had been overthrown and all prisoners had been let out. The person who learn the assertion known as on insurgent fighters and residents to protect the establishments of “the free Syrian state.”
Response from world wide
Iran, which had strongly backed Assad’s deposed authorities, says Syrians ought to resolve their nation’s future “with out harmful, coercive, international intervention.”
The assertion from the Overseas Ministry on Sunday was the nation’s first official response to the overthrow of Assad’s authorities by insurgent forces.
The U.N.’s particular envoy for Syria, Geir Pedersen, known as Saturday for pressing talks in Geneva to make sure an “orderly political transition.”
The Gulf nation of Qatar, a key regional mediator, hosted an emergency assembly of international ministers and prime officers from eight nations with pursuits in Syria late Saturday. The members included Iran, Saudi Arabia, Russia and Turkey.
“President Biden and his group are carefully monitoring the extraordinary occasions in Syria and staying in fixed contact with regional companions,” White Home Nationwide Safety Council spokesperson Sean Savett wrote on social media.
Saudi Press Company by way of AP
The French Overseas Affairs ministry mentioned France “welcomes” the autumn of Assad’s authorities “after greater than 13 years of violent repression in opposition to its personal folks.”
The ministry mentioned in a press release: “The Syrian folks have suffered an excessive amount of. Bashar Assad has bled dry nation, emptied of a giant a part of its individuals who, if not compelled into exile, have been massacred, tortured and bombarded with chemical weapons by the regime and its allies.”
German Overseas Minister Annalena Baerbock expressed understanding for the reduction Syrian folks felt after the autumn of Assad’s authorities however warned that “the nation should not now fall into the arms of different radicals.”
“A number of hundred thousand Syrians have been killed within the civil battle, thousands and thousands have fled,” Baerbock mentioned in a press release emailed by her workplace Sunday. “Assad has murdered, tortured and used poison fuel in opposition to his personal folks. He should lastly be held accountable for this.”
The battle in Syria started in 2011 when a pro-democracy rebellion calling for the tip of Assad’s lengthy reign escalated shortly right into a brutal civil battle. Since then, the battle has killed greater than 500,000 folks and displaced some 12 million from their properties.
